Hello!
I’ve seen a few posts praising the US and I can’t deny that I’ve also had a very concrete goal of moving permanently to the US eventually. I’m from the EU so the “reality” that I have of the US comes mainly from the media. With this being said, I’d like the brutally honest opinions of those that experienced the US first-hand, whether you’re American, have always lived in the US and absolutely hate it, or if you moved from the EU to the US and are loving the experience.
- As expats, I think we’re all running from something from our home country (work conditions, family situations, etc). What made you move to/out of the US?
- Do you feel your QoL (quality of life) has improved with your move to/out of the US?
- If so, would you attribute this to working conditions/salary? Or living conditions such as more free time, good pension/retirement, etc
- Do you plan on going back to your home country? If so, what is the main driver of that decision?
Last, but not least, for those living in the US, do you believe that the pros of having more/better career opportunities (at least for skilled labor/PhD level) in the US outweigh the cons of living there, namely:
- poor/expensive healthcare
- extremely high tuition fees for colleges
- high crime rates (naturally highly dependent on the place you live)
- small amount of time for maternity leave (I don’t mind the small amount for paternity leave, but in Scandinavian countries mothers can have up to a year of maternity leave which I believe is very beneficial for the kids. I do value countries that value and protect the family structure)
- … and a general low work-life balance? (This last bullet point is not as important to me as I do like and appreciate the hustle culture of the US which makes effort/skills be more appreciated and compensated)
Thank you all! Apologies in advance if this has been asked multiple times before, but I’d like to condensate different perspectives in a single thread if possible as it might be helpful for others as well! :)
Unpopular opinion, perhaps, but I view the car culture as a pro. I can go wherever I want, whenever I want. Parking is basically never a problem except in places like NYC, and even there it’s available, you just pay through the nose for it. You can spend a lifetime road tripping in the US and there will still be more to see.
In terms of personal freedom, few things have had as much of an impact on my life as getting my driver license.
Absolutely. I never really understood what “road trip” meant until I moved to the US. I can drive for twenty-odd hours and still be in the states. If I win the lottery, I’m definitely getting a Winnebago and doing every state.
I think the concept is cool but I’m an American that cannot drive, and last time I visited my family in the US I felt so trapped having to rely on someone else to pick me up/take me somewhere. I loved family road trips (aside from car sickness and the fuel smell at gas stations), but train and bus trips work even better for me. I particularly love having stations and reliable transport even within a 20 minute walk in Japan. It’s nice not needing to worry about insurance or even accidents too much, though my husband wants to get a car at some point.
But my younger sister likes driving and I do get it-- the mobility and freedom was nice especially in our spread-out hometown and her college town. (Though I’m pretty sure she too mostly just uses public transport and bikes in the NL now.)
There’s nothing wrong with public transit as an option, I just value car culture. For that matter, I used to be a bus driver.
But buses and cars use much the same infrastructure, and contrary to the popular dichotomy of thinking you have to choose one over the other, it’s actually possible to have both. (On a more general note, I wish society could get off the “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” train and focus more on coexistence, collaboration and compromise. But that’s a bigger can of worms.)